Plug-In Fan

ABSTRACT

A plug-in fan is assembled at a periphery of an electronic device. By an operation of the plug-in fan, temperature resulted when the electronic device is operating is decreased. An assembly plane of the periphery of the electronic device is formed with a plurality of plug-in holes, and corresponding assembly planes of the plug-in fan are assembled with a plurality of corresponding plug-in devices. When they are assembled correspondingly, each plug-in device corresponds with each plug-in hole and both are fixed quickly by pushing in or latching in. In addition, the assembling can be quickly accomplished without requiring an assistance of any hand tool.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a plug-in fan which is assembled by being plugged in at a periphery of an electronic device to provide an effective heat dissipation function to the electronic device, and more particularly to a plug-in fan that can be assembled and dismantled quickly, without requiring an assistance of a hand tool.

b) Description of the Prior Art

When an electronic device is operating, a fair amount of heat will be resulted. In addition, for an operation with a higher efficiency, temperature rises proportionally. One of the examples is an ordinary computer host on an existing market, wherein the computer host is normally assembled with the electronic devices of all kinds of functions, such as a motherboard, a central processing unit, various interface cards and a power supply. By adding a lot of power cords and transmission lines, an internal space of the computer host, which has been already very limited, will become even smaller and crowded, after being assembled with all kinds of electronic devices and wirings as described above. Correspondingly, when each electronic device operates by being energized with power, the temperature inside the computer host will increase rapidly that if the heat at high temperature cannot be expelled timely and effectively, then the electronic device may fail due to over-heating. Therefore, due to the operating efficiency of the electronic device, the interior of the computer host will be normally assembled with a device which is provided with a cooling function, such as a cooling seat with fins or a cooling fan which is applied most. The primary reason is that when the cooling fan operates, airflow can be resulted quickly, enabling the hot air at high temperature to be carried away from the electronic device rapidly to cool down the electronic device quickly, or allowing exterior cold air, which is at lower temperature, to be brought into the computer host rapidly to reduce the temperature quickly. In the computer host, a position where the cooling fan is normally installed includes a periphery of a power supply, a periphery of a central processing unit, a periphery of an interface card and a periphery of a hard disk. Referring to FIG. 1, it shows a schematic view of an application of a conventional cooling fan, wherein an internal space of a hard disk installation rack 10 allows for assembling with more than one hard disk. If a cooling fan 11 is to be assembled at this position, then it usually needs to be plugged in on a surface at a rear side or one of two sides. As shown in the drawing, the cooling fan 11 is assembled by transfixing a plurality of long screws 12 into four corresponding corner through-holes 111 of the cooling fan 11, such that the cooling fan 11 can be locked on a corresponding plane 101 of the hard disk installation rack 10. Although this kind of conventional assembly method can effectively fix the cooling fan 11 at the proper position, a corresponding hand tool (such as a screw driver) should be utilized during the assembling process. Of course, if the cooling fan 11 is to be dismantled, then the hand tool is also required. Accordingly, there will be a certain degree of difficulty in assembling or dismantling. Especially, in the small space of the computer host, it is very difficult to put in the hand tool properly, which increases the difficulty in the entire assembling or dismantling process. Furthermore, after assembling, the cooling fan 11 is directly and tightly attached on the corresponding plane 101 of the hard disk installation rack 10. Therefore, when the cooling fan 11 is operating, vibration resulted will produce noise, and if the cooling fan 11 vibrates too much, stability of the electronic device can be affected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a plug-in fan that can be assembled and dismantled quickly without an assistance of a hand tool, and is provided with a good vibration-proof effect.

To achieve the aforementioned object, the plug-in fan of the present invention is primarily a cooling fan which is pre-assembled with a plurality of plug-in devices, with each plug-in device including a cushion, such that after the cooling fan has been assembled at a corresponding position of an electronic device, no noise will be resulted even when the cooling fan operates, and vibration produced by the cooling fan can be absorbed effectively by the cushions without affecting an operation of the electronic device. On the other hand, corresponding positions of the described electronic device are formed with a plurality of corresponding plug-in holes, so that the plug-in devices of the cooling fan can be pushed in or latched in to be assembled quickly. On the other hand, upon dismantling, the plug-in devices are pushed out reversely to accomplish an unlocking operation.

To enable a further understanding of the said objectives and the technological methods of the invention herein, the brief description of the drawings below is followed by the detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an application of a conventional cooling fan.

FIG. 2 shows a three-dimensional view of the present invention.

FIG. 2A shows a partial enlarged view of FIG. 2 according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the present invention, upon being assembled.

FIG. 3A shows a partial enlarged view of FIG. 3 according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of a structure of a corresponding body, upon implementing the present invention.

FIG. 4A shows a partial enlarged view of FIG. 4 according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a first schematic view of an implementation of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a second schematic view of an implementation of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a third schematic view of an implementation of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a schematic view of another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8A shows a partial enlarged view of FIG. 8 according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 2A, it shows a three-dimensional view of the present invention, wherein a plug-in fan 20 comprises primarily a cooling fan 201 and a plurality of plug-in devices 202, and a cushion 203 is further assembled between each plug-in device 202 and the cooling fan 201. This cushion 203 is elastic and can produce a proper deformation effect.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 3A, it shows a schematic view of the present invention, upon being assembled, wherein four corner planes of the cooling fan 201 are formed respectively with an assembly hole 2011 having an inner thread. In addition, an end of each plug-in device 202 is transfixed into a through-hole 2031 of the cushion 203 and is then fixed at each assembly hole 2011. After being assembled, the cushion 203 is fixed between the plug-in device 202 and the cooling fan 201. As shown in the drawing again, an outer circumference of the cushion 203 is formed with a latching slot 2032 which is in an annular shape and is concaved. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 4A, it shows a schematic view of a structure of a corresponding body when the present invention is implemented, wherein the corresponding body is not limited to the implementation of the present invention and only serves as an example of the implementation. The corresponding body can be also an assembly of a computer case and a cooling fan, or an assembly of a computer case and a power supply. Moreover, an assembly plane 301 of a hard disk installation rack 30 is formed with a plurality of plug-in holes 302, with each plug-in hole 302 including a slide-in member 3021, a tail end of which is formed with a latching member 3022 having a diameter a little smaller than a width of the slide-in member 3021.

Referring to FIG. 5, it shows a first schematic view of an implementation of the present invention, wherein each plug-in device 202 of the plug-in fan 20 that has been pre-assembled corresponds respectively with the assembly plane 301 of the hard disk installation rack 30, with each plug-in device 202 corresponding with each plug-in hole 302 of the assembly plane 301 in advance. Referring to FIG. 6, it shows a second schematic view of an implementation of the present invention, wherein when each plug-in device 202 corresponds with each plug-in hole 302, the latching slot 2032 (referring to FIG. 3A associatively) of each cushion 203 at the outer circumference of the plug-in device 202 slides in from the slide-in member 3021 of the plug-in hole 302, with a direction of push after sliding in following an arrow-head in the drawing. Referring to FIG. 7, it shows a third schematic view of an implementation of the present invention, in association with FIG. 6, after pushing in according to the arrow-head, the plug-in device 202 will slide toward the latching member 3022 of the plug-in hole 302 and be latched. As the diameter of the latching member 3022 is smaller than the width of the slide-in member 3021, when the plug-in device 202 slides into the latching member 3022, elasticity of the cushion 203 is utilized, enabling the latching slot 2032 (referring to FIG. 3A) of the cushion 203 to produce proper deformation. After the cushion 203 slides into the latching member 3022, part of the deformation will be restored, and the cushion 203 will be latched into the latching member 3022 that the corresponding assembling is accomplished. After accomplishing the assembling, by a function of the latching slot 2032, an effective buffering function is formed between the cooling fan 201 and the hard disk installation rack 30; whereas, the latching slot 2032 is located between the cooling fan 201 and the plug-in hole 302, such that no any direct contact is available between the plug-in fan 20 and the hard disk installation rack 30. Accordingly, even when the cooling fan 201 rotates to result in vibration, a degree of vibration will be absorbed by the cushions 203, so as to produce an effective vibration-proof function. As shown in the drawing again, upon dismantling, only the cooling fan 201 needs to be pushed out reversely that the dismantling can be achieved.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 8A, it shows a schematic view of another preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the plug-in device 202 that is disclosed in the present invention can be applied to allow the cooling fan 201 to be quickly hung on a case 401 of a computer host 40. As shown in the drawing, an assembly plane 402 of the case 401 is formed with a plurality of plug-in holes 403, each of which is formed with a slide-in member 4031 and a latching member 4032. A diameter of the latching member 4032 is a little smaller than that of the slide-in member 4031, and the slide-in member 4031 is connected with the latching member 4032. Referring to the drawing again, the cooling fan 201 can correspond with the slide-in members 4031 of the plug-in holes 403 by utilizing the plug-in devices 202, followed by exerting force to push the entire cooling fan 201 toward the latching members 4032, allowing the plug-in devices 202 to slide into the latching members 4032, thereby accomplishing the assembling. Accordingly, the assembling or the dismantling can be accomplished quickly, without requiring the assistance of the hand tool. Furthermore, the cooling fan 201 does not contact with the case 401 directly, thereby effectively avoiding the noise or the vibration which results from the operation of the cooling fan 201.

Accordingly, in the present invention, a cooling fan and a plurality of plug-in devices are pre-assembled, and the plug-in devices are assembled respectively with a cushion, such that the cooling fan can be quickly assembled on an assembly plane of a corresponding electronic device by pushing in or latching in, with the plug-in devices. Moreover, by elasticity of the cushion, the plug-in devices are tightly fastened between the cooling fan and the assembly plane of the electronic device, such that no direct contact is available between the cooling fan and the electronic device, thereby enabling the cooling fan to be assembled and dismantled quickly, as well as to be provided with a good vibration-proof effect. Therefore, after implementation, a plug-in fan that can be assembled and dismantled quickly without the assistance of the hand tool, and that can be provided with the good vibration-proof effect, is actually provided.

It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. 

1. A plug-in fan that is quickly latched, after being pushed in, on an assembly plane of an electronic device which needs to be cooled down, comprising a cooling fan which produces airflow after operating, and planes of which are formed with a plurality of assembly holes; and a plurality of plug-in devices, an end of each of which is transfixed respectively into a cushion, followed by being fixed into each assembly hole of the cooling fan.
 2. The plug-in fan according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a hard disk fixing rack.
 3. The plug-in fan according to claim 1, wherein an assembly plane of the electronic device is formed with a plurality of plug-in holes.
 4. The plug-in fan according to claim 3, wherein the plug-in hole is formed with a slide-in member and a latching member, with the slide-in member being connected with the latching member.
 5. The plug-in fan according to claim 4, wherein an outer diameter of the latching member is a little smaller than that of the slide-in member.
 6. The plug-in fan according to claim 1, wherein the cushion is elastic.
 7. The plug-in fan according to claim 1, wherein an outer circumference of the cushion is formed with a latching slot.
 8. The plug-in fan according to claim 1, wherein an assembly plane of the electronic device is formed with a plurality of plug-in holes, each of which is provided with a slide-in member and a latching member, with the slide-in member being connected with the latching member.
 9. The plug-in fan according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a case of a computer host.
 10. The plug-in fan according to claim 9, wherein an assembly plane of the case is formed with a plurality of plug-in holes, each of which is provided with a slide-in member and a latching member, with the slide-in member being connected with the latching member. 